scope:

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can use this standard to help them plan and manufacture in a resource-efficient manner.

This standard provides

• management and supervisors,

• decision-makers in design, manufacturing, purchasing, sales and service,

• those involved in quality, energy, and environmental management, and

• CIP teams in SMEs with a simplified toolkit to improve the resource efficiency of products and production processes during the design, material procurement and production phases, and during and after the use phase. This standard highlights measures and instruments which

• lie within the direct sphere of influence and action of SMEs,

• can be implemented or applied on the short term with little effort as part of the day-to-day business, and

• entail direct or indirect economic benefits.

In addition, the standard describes approaches for assessing the resource efficiency of production processes and products throughout their life-cycle, the implementation of which may require greater effort or investment. These include instructions on switching production or improving products. Thus it provides guidance which enables SMEs to become more resource-efficient and thus

• achieve the same production results or the same benefit (see Section 4.1) with fewer resources,

• improve production results or increase the benefit with the same resources,

• realise a significant cost-saving potential,

• conduct business more sustainably (see VDI 4070 Part 1) and create a more innovative, competitive, and future-proof company, and

• make a contribution to resource conservation, security of supply, climate, and environmental protection.

This standard expands on the subject of cleaner production (production-integrated environmental protection, PIUS), which is described in VDI 4075 Part 1.

This standard considers the entire life cycle of the products beyond the gate-to-gate approach (see Section 5.4). The standard is structured as follows: Following on from terms and definitions, Section 4 illustrates the meaning of resource efficiency and its definition, which parties within a company are involved in resource efficiency and where it can be applied. This section also includes a comprehensive list of strategies and measures relating to products and production, citing various examples.

Section 5 describes step by step how to identify starting points for initiating resource efficiency measures for products or production using quantitative or qualitative assessment methods and how to translate these measures into resource-efficient products and processes and assess their effectiveness. Section 6 outlines instruments that can be used to support this iterative approach. Finally,

Section 7 refers to other VDI Standards on resource efficiency which cover the assessment of resource efficiency in detail